The Panoz Roadster is a sports car launched in 1992 by the American manufacturer Panoz Auto Development Company of Georgia. The Roadster was succeeded by the AIV Roadster in 1997. They were built using aluminum, similar to that of the Plymouth Prowler first sold several years later in 1997. The Panoz Roadster was the first American-built aluminum intensive vehicle. Development Panoz had purchased the rights to a frame designed by Frank Costin used in a defunct Irish sportscar called the TMC Costin. Panoz had Freeman Thomas design a new body for the car. Aluminum body panels were produced by Superform USA, resulting in bodywork both light and strong. Ford Mustang running gear, engine, and transmission were used, as was a solid rear axle and independent front suspension. A seven-man crew built the first ten cars, and other workers were added later to the production team. The Costin chassis was never put under a production car, instead the early Roadsters featured a TIG welded stainless steel tubing frame, and extensive use of CNC machined and stamped parts. Roadster The Roadster had no top or tonneau cover, and no provision or intention of having either. No automatic transmission was offered, only the 5-speed manual. A small heater core delivered warmth to the windshield for defrosting, since the US DOT requirements mandated it. There was no radio, no heater, no air conditioner, and furthermore no place to install any of those. Some Roadsters were fitted with a custom engraved plate atop the intake manifold with the owner’s name and the Panoz logo. A few cars were built to a factory specification, but most were custom ordered by the individual buyers. There were a number of changes that took place over the course of production, but in general the cars were quite similar. Roadster production continued to 1995. Two prototypes were built, and a further 44 cars were manufactured and sold to the public. AIV Roadster Starting in 1994 Panoz developed an aluminum chassis for the Roadster. This new chassis would both reduce assembly time (yet 350 man hours were still put into each copy), and reduce weight improving performance. In 1996 a new prototype was unveiled, which differed substantially from the original car. It had an extruded aluminum space frame with a central backbone. Special adhesives were used to attach the frame and body. Equally important, an entirely new drive train was used,